Gunslinger X Kunouch
by Major of the Letztes Bataillon
Summary: Vincent runs off after defeating Deepground Yuffie wont have it wrote this awhile back and posten it on Deviant art wanted to put it up here
1. Chapter 1

Yuffie rushed across her room towards her closet, she threw open the door and began rummaging for clothes. She stuffed random pairs of shirts and shorts into a

small backpack, shoving down for every inch of space in the damn thing.

Yuffie had gotten the call from Tifa, Vincent had left again. Just three days after finding him alive in that cave and he's already gone, Yuffie thought, after two week of searching, two weeks, they found him only to have him run off again, Yuffie hadn't even seen him since there battle with Deepground.

Just who does he think he is running off like that, she said to herself, but still she thought, I'm glad he's alive.

Yuffie was determined; she wasn't going to lose him, not like this, not when she was sure of herself.

Yuffie was about to run out the door when she backtracked to

sliping on her cloak. Yuffie froze to look at herself in the mirror, "I'm not going to let you run away this time Vincent, not from me."

Vincent marched through the thick forest. His metal boots crushing down layers of twigs and leaves, the boots were gathering a layer of mud and dirt as the golden medal began to lose its shine as it picked up the filthy hitchhikers, his heavy cape dragging through the thick brush, he paid no attention to the condition of his heavy cape as it was ripped and torn behind him. He was a bit disgruntled leaving Tifa and the others so suddenly without a word, but he knew it was better that way, the last thing he wanted was to have to explain that he wanted to be alone and settle things.

Vincent had too much on his mind; he needed to figure out what to do now that he was free from the grasp of Chaos. He needed to figure out what to do with the rest of his life, however long that may be.

Vincent never understood if his lack of ageing was a byproduct of Hojo's experiments, or simply his body being host to Chaos, only time would tell. A lot of things were unsure now that his body was free from that accursed demon.

Vincent understood that he was free to start a new life, but he was unsure as to where to begin. He didn't know if he would ever be able to live a normal life.

He needed to find a place to start, a place to just begin.

Vincent kept marching through the forest not caring when his cape would snag and tear on a twig or branch. The brush didn't bother him in his trek through the forest; he treaded through it as if it wasn't even there.

Even through Deepground had overall been defeated there were still reports of small squads causing trouble. Maybe cleaning them up were the first thing to do; Vincent knew that this wasn't a very good step to beginning a "NORMAL" life, but it was the only step he could think of.

The forest was never peaceful, despite what people would said about the forest being a peaceful and tranquil place Vincent could never agree with them, the forest was always full of life, as much life as any city. You were never alone here in the wilderness; the tranquility that people associated with the wild was nothing more than a natural setting that the life forms have adapted to, there were no sudden sounds, there were no falling rocks, there were no snapping twigs, or crunching of leaves. The only disturbances' were himself and his unnatural journey through this city of trees, or at least that was the case.

Vincent heard a loud snap, he sensed someone else that didn't belong, and he wasn't alone anymore. Vincent stopped in his tracks and scanned the area. He reached for his gun; it was a WRO handgun that Reeve lent him until he found a more suitable replacement; the Cerberus had been lost in his final battle with Omega. Vincent had to admit it was a fine gun, reliable and most certainly powerful. But it was nothing compared to his Cerberus of course, but it wasn't just that something just felt wrong with the feel of it, Vincent felt somewhat naked without his Cerberus on his hip. But he would have to make do with it.

Vincent scanned the trees, the thick brush concealing nothing from his sharp Turk trained eyes taking in every detail of the vast forest. Nothing escaped from his gaze, anything that didn't move with the wind, or cast the wrong shadow was spotted by his impenetrable gaze.

Vincent spotted the disturbance. Perched atop a branch in the distance he could make out a faint silhouette, Vincent studied the dark shape assessing the threat. Was it Deepground? Or perhaps something else? Vincent could not tell if it was even a human or not. Vincent noticed that the figure was still, had it noticed his sudden awareness? Or was it simply hesitating to do something. Vincent didn't know who or what this shadow was but he wasn't about to trust it.

Vincent raised the pistol and took aim, the silhouette didn't even move or stir from this. Was it possible that it didn't even sense him? Vincent considered this possibility, it was odd to think that anyone would be here, this thick forest was rarely visited by anyone, and not many travelers would pass through this place. Vincent found it odd that anyone would be here, was it perhaps some strange creature.

Vincent took aim and fired three times, not at the shadowy figure but at the branch it stood on. for any regular human such a distance would be impossible to even conceive hitting with just a handgun alone, but Vincent Valentine was for from a regular human, a better marksman was left unheard of. The branch gave way and the silhouette fell to the ground. Vincent was quick in action; he leapt over the bushes and rushed through the forest towards the fallen figure. He slowed his approach as he reached his destination; lying next to the tree was a lifeless figure in a cloak spread across the forest floor. Vincent approached the figure, gun still in hand, taking a knee next to the figure ready to shoot it at any moment. Vincent reached his golden claw out to unveil the hood, with rather quickness he pulled it back.

Vincent looked down at the figure, "stupid Kunouchi what the hell are you doing here?" He said tucking away the gun. Vincent Valentine looked down at the unconscious Yuffie kisaragi and sighed, not knowing exactly what to think or do.

Vincent reached his hand out and touched the young ninjas face, he sighed, this was the last thing he needed right now, but he couldn't leave her here like this, apart from being unconscious Vincent had no idea what kind of damage she sustained in her fall. Vincent barley had enough money for a place to stay let alone a hospital or potions. Vincent sighed "I guess I have no choice".


	2. Chapter 2

Yuffie felt warm, her entire body felt warm. She liked it; it felt nice to just be this way, just warm, plain and simple. She wished she could just stay like this forever. That was until she remembered what had happened.

Yuffie immediately pulled herself up, only to be brought back down; a tearing pain shot through her torso, the pain brought her back down on her back. Yuffie clutched her sides breathing rather heavily. Yuffie looked up to a rather lifeless ceiling. Yuffie closed her eyes for a second to let them a just to the light in the room, when she opened them again the she found that she was now looking into a pair of red glowing eyes that could only belong to one person, "Vincent" she said with a rather painful groin. "Don't move too much" he said "you broke a few ribs when you fell from that tree. You need to rest."

Yuffie slowly sat herself up enduring the pain. Yuffie looked around the room before her. She could tell that this was obviously a hotel, there was only one bed which she happed to be in, a

small desk, a table and a few chairs, it was a very simple room. "Where are we?" she asked the man standing beside her. "Were in Junon" he quietly answered "It was the closest place I could bring you." Yuffie looked down and lifted her shirt to examine the damage, she found her body tightly wrapped with bandages, Yuffie's face started to burn red "Uh…did you?" Vincent didn't move or even shift slightly from her side "I had one of the maids bandage you up, you broke three ribs, they are only minor fractures, I had to carry you all the way here, you're lucky it could've been worse." Yuffie plopped back down her head roughly colliding with her pillow. Vincent looked down at the young ninja princess, "Stay here, I'll go get you something to eat." He gracefully turned, his cape fluttering in his sharp movement, and left through the door.

Yuffie groaned at the silence, "What the hell was I thinking, getting myself into this mess?" That's just it she thought I wasn't thinking, Yuffie didn't even know what she planned to do or say once she found him, she just left her home and went chasseing after him, and now look where she was, in a bed with few broken ribs and having to be Vincent's burden. Yuffie cursed her own carelessness. "Well here I am" she told the empty room before her, "here I am with the very man I set out to find and I can't even think of something to say to him."

Yuffie closed her eyes, she felt almost silly, talking to an empty room. Yuffie smiled to herself, "well that's ok" she told the quiet room, feeling the bandages that caressed her body "It's not like I'm going anywhere soon".

Vincent was waiting in line, he was in some kind of fast food establishment, he didn't bother to even catch its name, and it was morning and the line was rather long with people eager to get there first meal, but that didn't bother him. The place was loud and impossible to hear yourself think, although the line was rather long it was moving fairly fast, the employees rushing themselves to fill every order, some rather hurried people were managing to cut in line to hurry and get on their way, that didn't bother him either. Nothing was bothering the great Vincent Valentine.

Vincent looked at the menu, he didn't know what half these things were, let alone what Yuffie would even like. Vincent continued to stare at the menu, She also need something to help her regain her strength, he thought, however he didn't even know how much this cheap menu would help but it was all he could afford. Vincent barely had enough Gil to support lodging, let alone feeding two people.

"May I help you sir" said the voice of the young cashier. Vincent stepped up to the counter, breaking his stare with the menu. The cashier was young blond with short hair with a very odd curl of hair protruding from her head. Vincent looked back up at the menu, "yes I'd like to order the number 7 meal" he said, the woman looked up at him, "would you like orange juice with that?" she said in a rather low voice tone voice, Vincent looked down at the woman and nodded. "That's 300 Gil sir, take your receipt and wait at the counter".

Yuffie was trying to go back to sleep, with no success. She never was the one to lie down once she got up. Yuffie sat herself up slowly, she couldn't go back to sleep. Yuffie lifted up the covers, trying not to put herself through more pain with unnecessary movement. Yuffie turned her legs off the bed, her feet making contact with the cold floor, Yuffie lifted herself off the bed one hand keeping herself stable, the other one clutching her left side. Yuffie could tell that her left leg was swollen. Yuffie felt grateful that she landed on her left side, if she landed on her legs they would probably both be severely fractured.  
Yuffie limped away from her bed, she wasn't as badly hurt as she thought she was, she was lucky she could even walk.

Yuffie limped towards the bathroom, "Might as well take a shower" she told the empty room, which was starting to become a habit of hers. Yuffie lifted her shirt and inspected the bandages, she needed to replace them herself if she planned to take a shower. Yuffie scanned the room around her; she spotted a half empty box of bandages on the desk. Yuffie limped over to the desk and grabbed the box and turned back over towards the shower.

Yuffie closed the bathroom door; she turned on the shower letting the cold water warm up. Yuffie removed her shirt and began to remove the bandages, Yuffie gaped at her heavily bruised left side, her entire left side seemed black with bruises, she was told that it was a minor factor but it didn't look that way to her, the rest her body was covered on bruises that looked pale comparison to the massive black mass on her left side.

Yuffie stepped into the shower, reveling in the hot water caressing her body. Yuffie sat down in the shower; all she could think about was the refreshing hot water easing her muscles. Yuffie sat in the middle of the tub, letting the holy hot liquid run over her, letting it simply overwhelm her. If there is one thing Yuffie loved about hotels, it was that they never ran out of hot water.

Yuffie dried her hair with a towel, she collected some clothes from her backpack, Vincent must have collected it when she fell. Yuffie felt bad, all she did was giving him a burden to take care of. "He probably hates me" she told the room.

Yuffie hadn't expected her wild goose chase to end her up like this, wounded and with the very man she was looking for. Yuffie had always been careless, but not like this, this time was different. Yuffie was used to getting hurt or into trouble; she was used to paying the consequences. But she hated it when other people had to pay for her carelessness, especially when they were she loved.

Yuffie returned to her bed, wrapping herself in the warm sheets, trying to combat the cool air against her moist skin. Love, she thought, Yuffie couldn't deny it, she loved Vincent, she didn't know how these feelings developed, she never denied that she liked Vincent, he was a good battle companion, he never panicked or lost his cool, he may have been a bit on the dark side, but that was one of the things Yuffie liked about him, he wasn't like any other people in AVALANCHE, she felt like there was so much to learn beneath that dark exterior. Yuffie always felt calm in his atmosphere, like nothing really mattered anymore.

Yuffie was ignorant of her own feelings, she always thought that he would just be there. Yuffie never thought about these feelings or took them seriously; she took her own feelings for granite. It wasn't until Vincent's final battle with Omega that she took these feelings into thought, she remembered how she searched the ruined streets of Midgar just calling his name in the dead silence of the night, that's when everything changed, she never wanted to feel that way again, empty and alone, as she searched the cold empty streets alone and in the dark, searching for him, just hoping that he would answer her calls, just hoping that he would be alive, she just wanted to find him alive, she wanted him to be with her, to comfort her, wipe away her tears and hold her.

She felt heavy since that night; she would stop in Tifa's bar and ask if Cloud had found anything him or any leads, only to be more and more disappointed. Yuffie wanted to join Cloud in his search, she wanted to be there the very minute they found him, she wanted to see that he was alive herself. However her father requested that she return to Wutai, there were still Deepground squads in the area and he needed her. Yuffie still kept in contact with Tifa, asking for any news everyday from her.

Words could not describe how relived she felt she heard that they finally found him, Yuffie wept with pure joy, she felt lighter, as if nothing could ever hold her back from what she was going to do, she wasn't going to take her feeling for granite anymore, she never wanted to feel like she did on that cold lonely night.

Yuffie however never got that chance, Vincent abruptly left before she even got a chance to see him, she never got to see him or tell him anything, she never got to tell him how she searched the empty ruins of Midgar, how she called out his name in the lonely night, or how she wished to accompany Cloud in his search for him, she never got to see him or tell him or anything, he just left, but she wasn't going to let Vincent just leave like that, she wasn't going to ever forget how much pain she went through in those empty streets, how could she ever forget that feeling of loneliness in her heart.

Yuffie just flat out ran after him, she left as soon as word of his absence reached her ears, she never said anything to Tifa, she just hung up on her when she told her the news, she didn't tell her farther or leave him a note, she just left chasing whatever dim trail there was of Vincent Valentine.

"So here I am!" she proclaimed to the empty room, "here I am with the person I set out to find and I can't think of a damn word to say to say to him, because…" Yuffie paused herself, she didn't want to say what she knew was true, she didn't want to say it, even to the quiet room, but Yuffie felt like she was keeping a secret from the room. Yuffie couldn't lie to herself, she reluctantly let it out "be…because I'm afraid of him rejecting me" Yuffie confessed to the room.


	3. Chapter 3

Yuffie heard the door open, she turned her head to see Vincent, he was standing in the doorway, his right hand was clutching a paper sack, "Are you hungry?" he asked, Yuffie nodded, she was very hungry, she hadn't eaten a real meal since she left Wutai, she was living off energy bars and trail mix, she couldn't describe how hungry she was.

Vincent handed her the sack, Yuffie gratefully accepted it, digging through its contents, she pulled from the bag an egg sandwich, Yuffie didn't waste any time, she immediately began to devour the food in front of her as if it would suddenly vanish before her.

Yuffie ate in silence, although she was usually the talkative one who was bothered by awkward silences, for once she was glad that Vincent Valentine wasn't one for conversations.

Vincent sat himself down on the side of the bed, letting the young ninja inhale her food, he felt that something was wrong, something was troubling Yuffie, he could feel it somehow, it was probably that she was unusually quiet. Vincent had always known Yuffie for being rather outgoing, she was always the one to spark conversations, she would always ask him questions hoping to get a response, Vincent would answer with short sentences not carrying the conversation or adding anything to it, Yuffie was never discouraged by this however, she always would ask another question or just carry on with the one she asked, like it was a game, like she was trying to learn something about him.

Vincent turned to the young Kunouchi, "Yuffie" he said. Yuffie turned her head, taking her attention away from her food; she met his gaze, not saying a word. Vincent gave her the chance to swallow her food, he held his stare into her eyes, "Why were you following me?" he asked.

Yuffie was at a loss for words, she wasn't ready for that, and she didn't expect Vincent to be so quick to the point. Yuffie struggled for words, "Well…uh…I…you see I was".

Yuffie was cut off by a loud knock at the door, Vincent gracefully left to answer it. Yuffie was relieved, she was happy to be off the hook, for now.

Standing at the threshold was a rather young man, he seemed a few inches less than six feet, he wore glasses over narrow eyes and had brown curly hair that was obviously unkempt. He wore a black leather jacket over a white t-shirt with a scorpion whose claws were holding a pair of revolvers, he had a pair of faded blue jeans with a large belt buckle of a jawless skull, from one of his belt loops protruded a gunmetal chain attached to a ring of skeleton keys, the man was holding a large box of polished wood by a brass handle.

The man entered the room, "Hello Vincent" he greeted, Vincent nodded, "Thank you for coming on such short notice Ivan. Do you have what I ordered?"

Ivan placed the wooden box on the desk, "I have something slightly better than what you ordered Mr. Valentine" he said rather proudly unlatching the box.

From the box he pulled what Yuffie thought was the Cerberus gun that belonged to Vincent, but it was different, the barrels were longer and looked sleeker, the three headed demon hound looked as if it was begging for action. "This is the Cerberus II" he said handing the massive weapon for Vincent to inspect.

Vincent broke the revolver to inspect the cylinders, "As you can see" began Ivan "the barrels are longer that you requested. This fine weapon uses special 50-70 Rounds. You see most high caliber revolvers have to sacrifice their chambers in order to keep the cylinder from fracturing when fired, that's why most 12.7mm revolvers have five chambers instead of six; however I made the cylinder out of mithril so I didn't have to sacrifice any chambers, so its six chambers per cylinder, so eighteen rounds in total."

Ivan reached back into the box and removed a box of ammo, "these 50-70 rounds are coated with mithril and have a heavy lead core, and these rounds could take down a bull elephant if you wanted to." Ivan chuckled, "other than that Its like your old Cerberus, three barrels that fire three rounds simultaneously, it uses heavy barrels for stability, they also add weight to reduce recoil, Its double action to operate all three cylinders and hammers." Ivan stopped to allow Vincent time to inspect the cylinders, "Are there any question Mr. Valentine?"

"No" he said, "I'm afraid to tell you this Ivan but I can't pay you." Ivan shrugged, "Don't worry about it, I'm sure Reeve's will pick up the bill for you, he usually does, besides my job wouldn't be very interesting if it wasn't for people like you who request such unique firearms. If I didn't have people like you around to make thing interesting, I'd be modifying rifles for lefties all day long, people like you make this job worth working."

Ivan closed the box, "I left you with plenty of ammo," he said turning to leave the room, "and Vincent," he said standing in the threshold, "I'm sure you already know this but, that gun can't be fired by any normal human, so it hasn't been properly tested, so as a favor to me please tell me how it does in the field when you get the chance."

Vincent nodded to Ivan, "will do". Ivan left, closing the door behind him. Vincent sat on the side of the bed, next to a now sleeping Yuffie. Vincent continued to inspect his new weapon, the gun was a work of art as well as instrument of death, lining the three blue steel barrels engraved in platinum the three headed Cerberus looked fierce and intimidating, as if it were begging to spit fire, and the handle was polished wood in a blue steel frame, the gun was well oiled, and the ammunition was the work of greatness.

Vincent Valentine, had never held a finer instrument of war, except for the Death Penalty, nothing rivaled this work of art. Vincent inspected the contents of the wooden box; Vincent found a leather holster as well as enough ammunition to last him for now.

Vincent broke the revolver and began to fill the empty chambers, the rounds casings were unusually long and slender, and the bullet itself was roughly the size of his thumb, Vincent didn't even like the thought of being shot with these, Vincent closed the revolver, setting the weapon to its holster, feeling content with his new weapon.

Vincent looked down at the sleeping ninja curled on the bed; Vincent pulled the covers her body protecting the young Kunouchi from the bitter cold. Vincent could feel sleeps embrace trying to claim him as well, Vincent hadn't slept since he left Edge. Sleep had never been something he really needed when Chaos inhabited his body, He could sleep when he wanted to, but he seldom did, Vincent had always figured that thirty years in that coffin had been enough sleep for anyone's lifetime.

But Vincent felt tired, he was free of Chaos, many human weaknesses were invading his body, he knew that he would never be a normal human; Hojo's experiments still heightened his senses and strengthened his body, Vincent would never be free of that curse. The question that plagued Vincent's mind was his mortality; Vincent never knew if Chaos was what was keeping him from ageing, he didn't know if he was free from the curse of immortality. Was he destined to walk this Earth forever? He hoped not.

Vincent, lied down on the floor, taking a spot on next to the bed, he paid no mind to the hard floor, sleep was overwhelming him, like a dark blanket covering him.

Yuffie awoke to a dark room, she pulled away the covers, she felt a bitter dryness in her throat. Yuffie left her bed, she found her way around the in the dark, navigating with her hands in front of her, Yuffie found her way to the light, Yuffie flipped the switch and turned to the sink, Yuffie retrieved one of plastic cups, she filled the cup with water.

Yuffie emptied the glass immediately, letting the fluids moisten her desert dry throat. Yuffie refilled her glass, and emptied it again, Yuffie turned back to her bed, expecting to see an empty room that she could talk to, instead she found a sleeping Vincent Valentine.

Vincent was lying on the floor next to her bed, he made no signs of life in him on the hard floor, except for his rising chest there was nothing coming from Vincent Valentine.

Yuffie looked down at the sleeping Vincent; did I step right over him? She thought, Yuffie had no idea that Vincent was even staying in the same room as her, let alone taking the floor for her. Vincent was flat on his back, not making a single sound in the world that she could here.

Yuffie reached her hand out, brushing his hair away from his face, she stared at his pale white face, the almost lifeless face looked like it could have been sculpted out marble. His face lacked the glowing red eyes that showed everyone that he was more than alive; he looked like the most peaceful creature on the planet.

Yuffie noticed that his new gun was holstered at his side, ready and loaded for any enemies he may encounter. Yuffie looked down at him, "Do you even want a life of peace?" she asked the sleeping Vincent. "Don't you ever want to be free?"


	4. Chapter 4

Vincent awoke to the light in through the window, the bright beams prying his eyes open. Vincent let his sharp eyes adjust to the light. Vincent tried to get up, only to realize that he wasn't alone.

Yuffie's body was snuggled up against his, her head making use of his shoulder. She was awake as well, her fingers were playing with a ragged end of his red cape, she seemed entranced with the red fabric. Vincent shifted his head, "Yuffie?" he said not knowing exactly what was going on.

"You were wearing this old cape when I first met you," she told him not taking her eyes off the ragged end, "back when we found you in that coffin. Back then it wasn't as ragged or torn back then it was neat and clean, every adventure you would wear this heavy thing and I would wonder why, as it would be shot, torn, and dragged through the mud, and now it's torn and dirty and burnt."

Vincent had never seen Yuffie like this before, she was obviously troubled, but not like he had ever seen, "Red is the color of sin" he told her, "I bear this cape as a sign of my sin. As the cape is slowly torn away in every battle I feel as if its slowly being forgiven."

Yuffie turned to him, trying not to look at him in the eyes, "But your sin has been forgiven hasn't it? You've found your redemption haven't you?" Vincent tried to look into her eyes, but she was avoiding his stare, Vincent answered her, "I have found forgiveness in Lucrecia," he confessed "But I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive myself."

"Oh" she said, leaving an awkward silence between them, a silence that made even Vincent feel awkward, "Yuffie-" he started only to be cut off by Yuffie, "I WANT TO BE WITH YOU VINCENT" she blurted.

Yuffie was taken aback from her sudden burst, she sat down on the bed, not saying anything, just letting those words hang in the air. Vincent didn't say anything; he was trying to make sense of her words, he stared at her, her eyes to the floor her hands to her

side, "I want to be with you Vincent" she said again, this time in a whisper, "I love you Vincent; I want to be by your side Vincent".

"Yuffie" he protested, "I KNOW" she said cutting him off, knowing what he was going to say, "I know you have your sin, I now you have your past, I know you have your cape, and I know that they will probably always be a part of you, I know you may you may never be able to let this dirty cape go. But I still want to be with you, I don't care about your sin."

Yuffie was breathing heavily, her left side was starting to hurt again, she felt hot tears dripping to the floor, she didn't dare look up at him. "Back in Midgar, back when you fought Omega, I searched for you, I spent the night looking through the ruins of Midgar for you, I called your name over and over hoping you would answer, I felt lost, I felt broken and alone, I didn't know what to do Vincent, I didn't know how to live my life without you, I couldn't picture my future without you."

Yuffie looked up into his face, "And I need to know." She said stepping up to him, letting her tear washed eyes come into contact with him. "Vincent" she started' "will you let me be with you Vincent? Can I be with you? Can I be by your side? Can I experience life's magic with you?"

Vincent didn't know what to say, he wasn't used to these kind of situations, he attended to avoid them as best he could, but there was no avoiding this, a simple shrug or one word answer wasn't going to help him.  
Vincent gently placed his hand on the ninjas shoulder, "Yuffie…I don't think you can experience life's magic with me"

"And why not" she protested "I already told you, I know you have your past and your sin, I don't care!"  
She was trembling, Vincent didn't know if she was going to break something or just break down. Vincent avoided these situations as much as he could, but he knew this young ninja deserved an explanation.

"It's not just my past Yuffie." He said, this time it was him who chose to look at the ground, "My body is free from Chaos, But Hojo's experiments still affect me Yuffie, I don't think I can live a normal life Yuffie."

Yuffie clenched her fists, "What makes you think I want a NORMAL life!"

"You don't understand Yuffie. I don't know if I can have children Yuffie, I don't even know if I'm going to age at all."

Yuffie sprung at him, tackling him into an embrace, burying her face into his shoulder, soaking the scarlet cape in her tears, "IT's not going to be easy!" she cried, "I know it's not going to be easy, but we can do it. If we can't have children then we can adopt like Cloud and Tifa did with Denzel. And as for you not ageing well time will only tell, and even so I don't care Vincent, I just want to be with you."

Yuffie just stood there with her head buried, "I just want to be with you." She whispered into his shoulder. Vincent wrapped her in his arms, he didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to say, he wanted to comfort her.

Vincent needed to think, he needed to get away, but he couldn't, he couldn't leave. He couldn't pry her away from his shoulder, he couldn't do anything.

A somewhat faint ringing tore the silence to pieces, making the situation awkward again, Yuffie removed herself from his shoulder.

She moved across the room to her bag lying in the corner, from it she removed her cell phone. "Hello Tifa", Vincent stood there in the corner listening to half the conversation, "ok…ok…I'm with Vincent. Sure…ok"

Yuffie closed the phone, "Cloud and Tifa told us we need to come back." Vincent nodded, a silence fell over the room again, the moment had been lost, and the situation fell back into being awkward, the magic moment of truth was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

Vincent led the chocobo through the forest, his hands wrapped in the reins. Mounted atop the yellow bird Yuffie quietly let Vincent lead the bird.

Tifa and Cloud called to say that her father was worried as to where she had gone. That was just like him to not even consider calling her on her cell phone.

Neither of them had spoken to each other since she confessed in the motel, Vincent used the very last of his gil to rent a chocobo. She wanted to protest but she knew it was useless with her limp.

The chocobo needed to be led through the thick forest. They didn't have any more gil for lodging so they needed to be as fast as possible.

They ran the chocobo as fast as they could until they reached the forest, Yuffie thought that Vincent would be uncomfortable sharing the chocobo, having her arms wrapped around his waist.

The forest was thick and treacherous; the chocobo needed someone to lead it through the brush. The sun was setting , the chocobo was obviously wearing down after being rushed.

"We can't

travel here at night." Vincent spoke up, "there is a cave we can take shelter in for the night." Vincent acted like nothing had happened, it seemed like her confession had never happened.

Yuffie felt like she was being torn at the seams, she couldn't see any feeling in him. Did he feel anything for her?

Vincent led the chocobo to the mouth of the cave, tying the reins to a nearby tree, Yuffie dismounted from the chocobo.

The cave was small for a cave it only went back twenty feet and had a ten foot width. Yuffie limped over to the nearest wall and rested herself against the cave wall. Vincent had begun to start a small fire with the smokeless powder from one of the Cerberus II rounds, removing the slug from the brass casing, pouring the flammable substance onto a pile of kindling he had gathered, Vincent removed a small stone from the cave floor, he scratched the surface of the rough stone with his metallic claw causing a small shower of sparks to erupt onto the pile of kindling, the smokeless powder ignited the small pile of tinder.

Both of them sat in the dark cave illuminated only by the small fire, the silence between them was killing her. How could he be quiet about what she had said? How was he able to act like nothing had happened?

Yuffie felt like she should say something, like she should try to be the normal talkative girl she usually was. Could she do that? Could she ever return to the way she was before? Could she return to the relationship she had with him before?

Even if she could return to her old relationship she knew she wouldn't be happy. She knew that she could never be the same.

"Yuffie" the word broke the silence like a hammer, "I don't want to hurt you Yuffie". Vincent's eyes were on the ground, "I know you want to be with me Yuffie, and I…I want you to be with me to."  
Vincent looked into her eyes, "Yuffie, when I'm with you I can forget, I feel like everything about my past is washed away, I feel like Hojo, Lucrecia, Chaos, it feels like it is some nightmare that I just woke up from, I feel like this heavy cape isn't even a part of me anymore. Yuffie I want you to be by my side. So Yuffie please try to understand, I don't want to hurt you, I can't have you by my side Yuffie."

Yuffie looked back at the ground, "I…I don't understand Vincent, I don't understand, you say you want to be with me, don't you?"

"I want to be with you Yuffie, but I don't want to cause you pain Yuffie, you would only find hardships with me, I won't place hardships on you for my own selfish needs, I can't promise you anything Yuffie, I don't know if I can even age, or if I can even have children. I'm not good for you Yuffie."

Yuffie felt tears running down her face, "AND WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT I'LL BE HAPPY WITH SOMEONE ELSE? DO YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT THERE'S GOING TO BE HARDSHIPS? I KNOW THAT THERE IS GOING TO BE HARD TIMES AND PAIN! BUT DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT I'M GOING TO FIND HAPPINESS WITHOUT YOU. DON'T YOU REALIZE THAT YOU ARE JUST CAUSING ME MORE PAIN."

Vincent felt her words hit him like a brick, she was right, Vincent had thought that he was trying to help her, but he was really just avoiding her, he was running away again.

Yuffie was hugging her legs, curling up against the cave wall. Vincent stood up in front of her, "Yuffie, I'm sorry…I'll be with you Yuffie." Vincent embraced her, wiping the tears with his hand, "let's live it out Yuffie, I'll be here." Yuffie looked up at him "Ok"

Vincent held her through the night, pressing her frame to his, Vincent looked at the young ninja in his arms, and "You think you can deal with the hardships with me? Then I'll wipe the tears away when they come."


End file.
